logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2020
28m 34s

Could carbon offsetting save the world’s...

BBC Radio
About this episode

Honey bees, cow dung and mulch - the company in Zimbabwe that is protecting the forests in order to offset carbon emissions. As Charlotte Ashton wrestles with ‘flight shame’, she wants to find out where her money goes if she chooses to offset her flight. She lives in Zimbabwe, but is from the UK and doesn’t have the money or time to spend three weeks at sea, sailing home to visit relatives. She focuses on a company based in Zimbabwe that runs one of the largest projects of its kind in the world and discovers how carbon credits work. Carbon Green Africa’s project focuses on protecting existing forests, rather than planting new trees and her journey takes her to some surprising places. In a programme recorded last November, Charlotte finds that preventing deforestation not only helps her offset her carbon emissions, but helps give people in a remote part of Zimbabwe new jobs and access to international markets.

Guests: Charles Ndondo and Rory Muil, Carbon Green Africa Christian Dannecker, South Pole Presenter: Charlotte Ashton Producer: Phoebe Keane

Up next
Sep 2020
Still in Business
For the final programme of the series, John Murphy returns to a selection of businesses that have come through this far. A fabric and haberdashery shop, a fruit farmer and a micro-pub. What’s their story of survival, what did they change and what of the future? The potential diff ... Show More
27m 51s
Sep 2020
Building Back Better
The pandemic and the resulting recession have led to widespread calls to recognise that we now have a once in a generation opportunity to re-think how we put the economy back together again. Research shows we can help our economy flourish again by prioritising spending on environ ... Show More
27m 46s
Sep 2020
Wine, Widgets and Brexit
As Brexit talks between the European Union and the UK got under way earlier this year, before anyone was using the word “pandemic”, Caroline Bayley began following two companies which both export to Britain– one in France, one in Germany – to see how they were planning for trade ... Show More
28m 18s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2022
Lessons from the forest for climate change
Jane Goodall, the famous primatologist, has set us a challenge: Is it possible to tackle climate change whilst also lifting people out of extreme poverty?Her question - posed to the BBC's Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt - is inspired by her own experience of tackling deforestation ... Show More
18m 23s
May 2021
Can flying go green?
Paying extra to offset your carbon emissions may sound like a good idea. But does planting trees or paying to save a rainforest actually reduce your carbon footprint? Travel writer Manchán Magan and climate scientist Thales West explain why they're sceptical. We also hear from on ... Show More
18m 23s
May 2023
Germany’s forests under threat
Drought and hotter summers are killing Germany’s spruce forests. They’re a staple of the timber industry but are proving unable to cope with the consequences of climate change. Four out of five of Germany’s trees show signs of sickness, according to the latest survey of the healt ... Show More
28m 22s
Oct 2022
What should Africa do with its fossil fuel reserves?
Africa accounts for around 10 per cent of the world's known fossil-fuel reserves. But plans to build an oil pipeline through East Africa to transport hundreds of thousands of barrels a day have been condemned by the European Union. The pipeline, which runs from the source in Ugan ... Show More
27m 43s
Jun 2022
Is a rare carbon sink under threat in the DRC?
Dense tropical rainforest in central Africa's Congo Basin is humid and rainy for much of the year. Underfoot lies one of the world’s biggest carbon sinks – muddy soil built up from layers of partly decomposed plant matter. Remote and uncultivated, the peatlands have survived for ... Show More
17m 28s
Aug 2023
Your carbon footprint should bring you joy
The concept of a “carbon footprint” began as a distraction from Big Oil: get people to focus on their own actions rather than the impact of large emitters. Oil companies come up with PR campaigns all the time, but the carbon footprint took off because it taps into a question we k ... Show More
34m 57s
Oct 2021
Saving the Amazon with economics
The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest but this crucial carbon sink is facing increased deforestation. Land clearing for mining or agriculture has increased under Brazil's president Jair Bolsanaro. But the world needs the Amazon jungle to keep absorbing carbon if more ambit ... Show More
17m 29s
Apr 2024
Capturing CO2 from the air
We're in Iceland, where, in attempt to fight climate change, huge machines are being used to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.And then locking it away deep underground, turning it into stone.The business behind the technology believes this is a crucial step in reducing t ... Show More
17m 29s